


Without Strings

by SwoodMaxProductions



Series: Hyrule Warriors 2 AU [6]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors
Genre: Aroace Ganondorf, Aroace Ghirahim, Aromantic, Aromantic Character, Asexual Character, Asexuality, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Friendship, Ganondad and his metal murderchild, Gen, Gerudo Culture, Good Ganondorf, Good!Ghirahim, Hurt/Comfort, I wrote this for Pride Month, Internalized Acephobia, Internalized Arophobia, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Sleepy Cuddles, Soul Bond, Touch-Starved, ganondad, pride month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24565018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwoodMaxProductions/pseuds/SwoodMaxProductions
Summary: In which Ganondorf is touch-starved, but not in a sexual or romantic way, and Ghirahim understands— and obliges.
Relationships: Ganondorf & Ghirahim
Series: Hyrule Warriors 2 AU [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1750702
Comments: 9
Kudos: 94





	Without Strings

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I’m gonna say it. I’m aroace. This is based on my own experiences. It is also cute as all hell. Enjoy.

Ghirahim was a godsend.

On the battlefield, he was unstoppable, blisteringly fast and wickedly precise, a master duelist, a devastating vanguard, a feller of giants.

Off the battlefield… well, it was a bit more difficult for Ganondorf to pin down.

Ganondorf had known something was off for as long as he would remember. Like his predecessors, he had grown up being groomed to be, at least in his eyes, glorified breeding stock. He’d grown up having the constant, overwrought obsession with romance shoved down his throat. They told him he would grow out of his distaste for such things.

He didn’t.

He found sex to be nothing close to the life-consuming experience of heaven on Earth others seemed to see it as; a necessity for the survival of his people, but damn it, he wished everyone would just shut up about it already. The pedestal everyone placed romance on seemed particularly undeserved as well.

But every time Ganondorf tried to change the subject in an awkward situation, every time he tried to speak out about everyone behaving so ridiculously, they acted like he was committing some sort of crime. The damned Hylians were even trying to justify their hatred of him with his interest in handling the war over such troublingly conditional notions of “love”. 

But Ghirahim…

Ghirahim was a sword spirit. He held no desire for sex or romance. He didn’t even have genitalia. Hell, he barely understood sex, and was absolutely baffled by the concept of romance. Ganondorf, instead of taking that as a sign of his own inhumanity, took it as a welcome change. Ghirahim would never betray him at the behest of someone sufficiently attractive. Ghirahim would never judge him like the others.

And, possibly most importantly, Ghirahim didn’t take physical contact as something sexual. Ganondorf was reluctant to admit that what they were doing would be most accurately described as ‘cuddling’, but… really, with the spirit curled up in a little silvery ball against him, it was impossible to deny.

But it just felt… right. No requirement of sexual favors, no strings attached, just caring about another person, in privacy without anyone swooping in to make things  _ weird _ . Both of them needed the contact, that reassurance that neither of them were alone.

Ganondorf couldn’t help but be charmed by Ghirahim’s oddly youthful appearance. As a father, he found it adorable, especially when Ghirahim was so content, even beginning to fall asleep despite himself. He felt safe. And that meant a lot.

Neither of them really knew why the contact felt so good. It just…  _ did _ . Like some missing part of them had been slotted back into place. They were connected, and the bond between him and his sword spirit ran deep, filling in the gouges in Ghirahim’s psyche left by Demise as best it could.

Ganondorf’s attunement to Ghirahim allowed him to sense the faint astral resonance in the background, a sort of contented, happy sound. Ghirahim  _ purred _ . Like a cat. He also had no sense of personal space, adored attention, and had a propensity to bring him things he killed, or at least parts of them, so perhaps the cat simile wasn’t so silly after all. 

He held the sleepy eidolon close, tucking his head under his chin. This was something that meant more than idle words. When the debauchery grew stale and the love poetry ceased to have meaning, when the young lovers so glorified by society broke empty promises and parted ways in favor of others, there would be them, side by side, defiant of fate and standing against it as one. There would be them, laughing in the ashes of destiny, their band of warriors celebrating, without the need for anything more than caring for each other, being  _ together _ .

_ That _ was love.


End file.
